The invention relates to a gas-fired device for generating heat for a dwelling, comprising a vessel containing a liquid with an associated burner assembly for heating said liquid, an air-heat exchanger provided on the outside of said vessel, means for passing air through said heat exchanger for heating said air and a connection with means for passing the heated air to the room(s) to be heated, and a discharge for the combustion gases from the burner assembly extending to the outside. Preferably the heat accumulated in the fluid inside said vessel is also utilized for heating heat exchangers which are mounted inside and/or outside of said vessel. A device of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,508.
A device of this type permits to heat the dwelling by means of hot air, to furnish hot water and to heat domestic appliances such as a washing mashine, all this by means of one burner assembly so that it will not be necessary to install separate devices for furnishing hot water in the dwelling, which separate devices can be either of the flow heater type and of the boiler type.
In the known device a combustion chamber is formed inside the vessel, which chamber is fed with a combustible mixture by means of a tube extending through the wall of said vessel. Said combustion chamber is connected to a tortuous passageway for the combustions gases, which extends through the interior of the vessel and which is connected to the discharge for the combustion gases through a connection passed through the wall of the vessel. In a vessel constructed this way, this vessel must have rather large dimensions in order to obtain a sufficient heat content so that the device takes up much space which obviously is a disadvantage. At any rate such a device is not suitable for being placed in a cabinet.